Qatar.

This is coolbert:

Qatar never seen as a major player in the Middle East. Until now?

Yet one additional entry from the latest edition of the DEBKAfile:

1. "Large group of Qatari royals kidnapped on Iraqi hunting trip" 

16 December.

"Unidentified gunmen kidnapped a group of 26 Qataris, including several royal princes, who were on a falcon hunting trip Wednesday in the Najaf Desert of southeastern Iraq. The Iraqi soldiers detailed to guard them made themselves scarce when they saw the armed abductors."

First question I would ask is whether or not these Qatari [including royals] were not smart enough to stay away from a dangerous area. Second, who are these kidnappers? Could be from among a whole host of bad actors in the area, to include ISIL! That royal family of Qatar has very deep pockets and I might imagine the ransom demands going to be exceedingly high! This too was a hunt for the houbara bustard?

2. "A Turkish base in Qatar to fight 'shared enemies'"

17 December.

"Turkey is to deploy 3,000 troops plus air, naval and 'special warfare' units at a new base in Qatar. The two nations have in common their support for the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and the Syrian opposition and their resistance to rising Iranian influence in the region and Russian intervention in Syria. Establishing the base was kept in abeyance until it was approved by Saudi King Salman."

The Turk has aspirations for at least a partial renewal of the old Ottoman Empire? A policy is slowly but surely being put into motion that would have made a Turkish Sultan of olden days very proud?

coolbert.